Afghans voted in the fourth post-Taliban-era national election Saturday, though it was not without the violence promised by militants or myriad procedural challenges. With the polls officially closed, the vote count will begin Sunday, though it is not expected to be completed until the end of October.

Voters trickled into polls under a dark cloud of Taliban threats to disrupt the parliamentary election and the legacy of fraud that undermined the credibility of the last election, held just over a year ago.

A predawn earthquake shook the Afghan capital Saturday, but did not significantly impact the election.

Early voting appeared to be light - at 32 percent, according to the Independent Election Commission. But deputy spokesman Tabish Forugh said turnout could end up being much higher.

With the polls officially closed, the vote count will begin Sunday, though it is not expected to be completed until the end of October.

More than 2,500 candidates were competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament.

The Previous reaffirmation election of President Hamid Karzai was shown and widely seen around the world as a utter fraud, a SHAM. The Karzai government is nothing but a dictatorship upon the Afghanistan people propped up by the machine gun's of the American soldiers.

This 'election' is also going to be a utter fraud, simply going thru the illusionary steps of democracy in Afghanistan.

As long as the CIA-Karzai Clan keeps the enormous amounts of Heroin flowing out of Afghanistan in a virtual tide wave across the entire world, nothing is going to change in Afghanistan and nothing positive is going to occur in the lives of the Afghanistan people. The Chinese Triad's (world's largest crime syndicate) are quickly growing ultra-rich and even stronger than before with the US Cargo planes carrying Heroin out of the US Manas airfield to their Triad ordered destinations.

I pointed out to the former ISI chief (General Gul) that Afghan opium finds its way into Europe via Pakistan, via Iran and Turkey, and via the former Soviet republics. According to the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, convoys under General Rashid Dostum — who was reappointed last month to his government position as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Afghan National Army by President Hamid Karzai — would truck the drugs over the border. And President Karzai’s own brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, has been accused of being a major drug lord. So I asked General Gul who was really responsible for the Afghan drug trade.

“Now, let me give you the history of the drug trade in Afghanistan,” General Gul's answer began ...

“Before the Taliban stepped into it, in 1994 — in fact, before they captured Kabul in September 1996 — the drugs, the opium production volume was 4,500 tons a year. Then gradually the Taliban came down hard upon the poppy growing. It was reduced to around 50 tons in the last year of the Taliban. That was the year 2001. Nearly 50 tons of opium produced. 50. Five-zero tons. Now last year the volume was at 6,200 tons. That means it has really gone one and a half times more than it used to be before the Taliban era.” He pointed out, correctly, that the U.S. had actually awarded the Taliban for its effective reduction of the drug trade. On top of $125 million the U.S. gave to the Taliban ostensibly as humanitarian aid, the State Department awarded the Taliban $43 million for its anti-drug efforts. “Of course, they made their mistakes,” General Gul continued. “But on the whole, they were doing fairly good. If they had been engaged in meaningful, fruitful, constructive talks, I think it would have been very good for Afghanistan.”

Returning to the drug trade, General Gul named the brother of President Karzai, Abdul Wali Karzai. “Abdul Wali Karzai is the biggest drug baron of Afghanistan,” he stated bluntly. He added that the drug lords are also involved in arms trafficking, which is “a flourishing trade” in Afghanistan. “But what is most disturbing from my point of view is that the military aircraft, American military aircraft are also being used. You said very rightly that the drug routes are northward through the Central Asia republics and through some of the Russian territory, and then into Europe and beyond. But some of it is going directly. That is by the military aircraft. I have so many times in my interviews said, ‘Please listen to this information, because I am an aware person.’ We have Afghans still in Pakistan, and they sometimes contact and pass on the stories to me. And some of them are very authentic. I can judge that. So they are saying that the American military aircraft are being used for this purpose. So, if that is true, it is very, very disturbing indeed.”

Moving 7,000 TONS of Opium or 700 TONS of processed PURE HEROIN out of Afghanistan is not logistically possible thru the Middle East countrys. Even by using US Military trucks and convoys which GAO records have previously recorded as being put to such use (American taxpayers paid for transport trucks used by the Taliban to move Opium), they wouldn't risk moving 1,000 pounds of pure heroin at a time. On the distribution end that 1,000 lbs becomes 20,000 pounds of 5% Heroin, an enormous 10 Tons.

Transporting the processed Heroin thru the US Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan would require at least 2 transport vehicles carrying 500lbs of Heroin nearly everyday for the entire YEAR. 350 days a year, packing a total of 1,000 lbs of processed Heroin OUT of Afghanistan. In a warzone bordered by Islamic states and countrys which have the death penalty for even 1 lb of Heroin, the century's old heroin silk road route in Kyrgyzstan is the only way those amounts are being transported out to the world's illicit drug market and the Chinese Triad's.

Thanks to 'US Military Intelligence' Heroin seizure of Heroin is up to 3,000 lbs this year (far less than 1%), or a mere 3 days worth of trafficking out of a 350 day trafficking schedule. However that is certainly more than the heroin seized during the corrupt Republican Bush-Cheney administration.

The vast amount of processed Heroin is flowing thru the Silk Road route back to China which travels right thru Kyrgyzstan which the US Military happens to have it's Manas tanker refueling fleet parked in and routinely has cargo and passenger transports landing and leaving 24/7. While you (riley) doubt Manas is being used, the Heroin transports would be entirely noticeable if they were in non-US Military transport trucks and continued thru Kyrgyzstan at least 2x a day, 350 days a year and each of them would be heavily guarded.

General Gul of Pakistan's ISI is an extremely knowledgeable military commander of the entire multiple decade old Afghanistan conflicts, his statements that US Military transport aircraft are used to fly out the processed Heroin is not from a less than informed individual. The logistic's of transporting processed Heroin on such a scale and amount which I pointed out lead to the same conclusion.

Osama bin Ladin was on the CIA payroll and the Pakistani ISI payroll working for both of those agency's during 'Charlie Wilson's covert War' out of Pakistan against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. If it were not a covert war against the Soviet Union, Osama bin Ladin's success and campaign's against the Soviet Army, the American people would have widelyl heralded him as a outstanding war hero. Lt. Gen. McChrystal's lackluster success pales in comparison but wing-nut's paint McChrystal's failed shake and bake Afghanistan strategy as a 'hero'.

During the latter part of President Clinton's second term in office, two US embassies were bombed in Africa. Osama bin Ladin was blamed as being one of the financier's behind that operation. President Clinton called for a major undertaking to kill Osama bin Ladin using multiple cruise missiles, unfortunately French secret service agents in Osama's training camps with Osama bin Ladin were alerted to the launch by the US State Dept. and immediately informed Osama bin Ladin who immediately fled with a tiny handful of associates, leaving the enlisted fighters and their instructors behind.

I seriously question the linkage of affirming Osama bin Ladin financed the US Embassy attacks in Africa and then immediately calling for a huge multiple cruise missile attack on him and the Taliban training camps which were largely built also by American taxpayer dollars. Tracing money funding to Africa is difficult at best, Osama and other's traditionally use the Hawala money system which is nearly impossible to track and trace. I just do not buy the explanation.

A Saudi citizen in Pakistan who is definitely linked via wire-transfers of large amounts of money to the 9/11 hijackers in Florida which resulted in the murder of well over 3,000 Americans. That person is likely living fat in a Pakistani ISI safe-house at this time and IS SIMPLY listed by the FBI as 'a person of interest'.

The 'story' that alleges Osama bin Ladin 'financed' the US Embassy bombings therefore an immediate huge multiple cruise missile attack is called upon by the US President, IS TOTAL BS.

More likely Osama bin Ladin as a Victor in the overthrow of the handpicked KGB Afghanistan leader, told his American handlers in the CIA and US State Dept. that he (Osama) was going to be part of the rulership government in Afghanistan. Osama also likely told the CIA that he (Osama) was going to eradicate the Poppy fields across Afghanistan thereby destroying a major cash flow to the CIA and it's shadow web of private contractors operating in Afghanistan.

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